To the editor:

The candidate forum last night was interesting. It’s a great opportunity to get a feel for each individual. We have to remember that, as interesting as it is to hear each candidate’s individual perspective and opinion, none of them will make decisions all by themselves. They work as a collective. The power of any board exists only when they are together. The quality of their interactions and transactions with each other determines their ability to make intelligent decisions for our community. Intelligence is not in them. It emerges in the space between them. Their past actions are moving pictures of their beliefs. Words must match actions. At this moment in our village, we have to be able to come together not to defend our beliefs, but to evolve them. There is a generation of young people depending on us to position them to be able to solve problems we have yet to invent. They are our future. They are the solution to the problems we are trying to solve. Affordability, civility and transparency will be necessary to evolve the relationship of our village board members to each other and our community’s relationship to village government. Curiosity and discovery must drive the future. Defense collapses all forward momentum.

We have to be careful and recognize that a personal performance on stage may not be representative of an ability to collaborate, cooperate, and connect. We do have past experience as a barometer. Our Mayor and Board of Trustees must be a team. We don’t have to agree with each other. We have to recognize that we learn nothing from a nodding head. When we agree, it may not mean we are correct. The most important person in a room of nodding heads is the one who disagrees. We don’t have to like them or their idea, but we must be curious about what they may see that we don’t. When we dismiss others’ perspectives, we are exhibiting the “teaspoon fallacy.” We will arrogantly defend our certainty with a teaspoon of information from an ocean of knowledge. We will determine that there are no whales in the ocean, simply because there are no whales in our teaspoon. Dismissing what someone else sees in their teaspoon because it doesn’t confirm our belief is confirmation bias.

I applaud anyone willing to accept the mantle of responsibility to serve our community. When we vote this month, please consider those who can work together as a collective. Our village needs people who can be curious and interested in entertaining new ideas. Our most valuable future resources will be families that can find affordable housing and put children in our schools. That is the problem we should be trying to solve.

We need representatives who can operate with collective intelligence. Test and learn is the future. Intelligent civil discourse is missing. If it’s not safe to have a discussion, we all lose. Vote to improve the foundation and it will hold the weight of the building set upon it.

Billy Martin

Saranac Lake